South Africa April 2023: Ford Ranger topples Toyota Hilux to #1, new Toyota Vitz lands

The Ford Ranger is the #1 vehicle in South Africa for the first time in 6 years.

The South African new vehicle market is flat again in April at -0.2% to 37,107 sales, leading to a year-to-date tally up 1.2% to 175,411. Passenger Cars are hit -6.1% to 24,174 units whereas Light Commercial Vehicles gain 11% to 10,611. 90.3% of sales are through the retail channel, 5.2% through the rental industry, 2.8% for corporate fleets and 1.7% for government sales. The lukewarm market conditions are predicted to continue for at least the remainder of the year as a new interest hike is expected in May as an effort to curb inflation. 

Toyota (+5.3%) easily remains the best-selling manufacturer in the country with 25.4% share, selling more than double the #2, the VW Group (-8.7%). Suzuki (-2.1%) also dips in 3rd place whereas Ford (+42.9%) climbs up two spots on last month to #4. Hyundai (-16.7%), Nissan (-21.7%) and Kia (-23.4%) are in difficulty below, as is Renault (-43%). Isuzu (+38.1%) for its part manages the other double-digit gain in the Top 10 just as Haval closes out the Top 10. Newcomer Chery stays at #11.

The new Toyota Vitz, a rebadged Suzuki Celerio.

There’s a big event in the models ranking: the Ford Ranger (+93.1%) doubles its sales year-on-year to topple the traditional leader, the Toyota Hilux (-21.6%), by just 14 sales. It is the first time since June 2017 that the Ranger is the best-selling vehicle in South Africa outright. This is despite a mass power blackout that left its Silverton Plant in the dark for two days. The VW Polo Vivo (-2.4%) is back up one spot on March to #3 as is the Toyota Corolla Cross (-9.9%) to #4. The Toyota Starlet (+115.3%), Hyundai Grand i10 (+94.3%) and Isuzu D-Max (+52.3%) also score significant YoY gains below. Finally notice the arrival of the new Toyota Vitz (a rebadged Suzuki Celerio) at #43, now the most affordable Toyota model in South Africa.

Previous month: South Africa March 2023: Isuzu D-Max climbs to #2, sales edge down -0.6%

One year ago: South Africa April 2022: Suzuki Swift up to #2, Renault Kiger in Top 10, sales up 4.3%

Full April 2023 Top 35 All manufacturers and Top 50 models below.